Many work processes would be almost unthinkable today without robots. But robots operating in manufacturing facilities have often posed risks to workers because they are not responsive enough to their surroundings.
Many work processes would be almost unthinkable today without robots. But robots operating in manufacturing facilities have often posed risks to workers because they are not responsive enough to their surroundings. To make it easier for people and robots to work in close proximity in the future, Prof. Matthias Althoff of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has developed a new system: IMPROV.
When companies use robots to produce goods, they generally have to position their automatic helpers in safety cages to reduce the risk of injury to people working nearby. A new system could soon free the robots from their cages and thus transform standard practices in the world of automation: Prof. Matthias Althoff has developed a toolbox principle for the simple assembly of safe robots using various components. The modules can be combined in almost any way desired, enabling companies to customize their robots for a wide range of tasks – or simply replace damaged components. Prof. Althoff's system is presented in a paper in the June 2019 issue of Science Robotics.
Built-in chip enables the robot to program itself
Robots that can be configured individually using a set of components have been seen before. However, each new model required expert programming before going into operation. Prof. Althoff has equipped each module in his IMPROV robot toolbox with a chip that enables every modular robot to program itself on the basis of its own individual toolkit.
Read more at Technical University of Munich
Scientist Christina Miller ist working on the modular robot-arm. (Photo credit: A. Heddergott / TUM)
